How Jennifer Lawrence prepped her body for Red Sparrow

We all have a soft spot for the beloved J-to-the-Law, not only because she’s a bloody amazing actress, but also because she simply is who she says she is. #nofilter

Unlike ordinary A-list actors who play to their strengths and star only in musicals, action films or rom-coms, J-Law is just different. Exhibit A: taking on the lead role as a professional ex-ballerina in her latest blockbuster movie, Red Sparrow.

First of all, how is it possible to master the art within a matter of months when it takes the average dancer years to perfect? And secondly, just how? How is this possible?

Well, it was all down to one man who was magically able to transform Lawrence into a dancer – professional dance coach, Kurt Froman.

“Even though we knew there was going to be a dance double doing the moves she wasn’t going to do, we had to do everything to train her to do everything from the waist up,” the Associate Choreographer for Red Sparrow exclusively told myBody+Soul.

“I knew I was never going to be able to get her legs and feet to physically do all the moves, but I knew from the prior work I’ve done in movies such as The Black Swan, I needed the rhythm of her body to match the existing choreography. I needed it to be as close to the tempo as possible and I knew I needed her eyes, and alignment and head positons and body rotation to be as close to the actual choreography as possible.”

And training for the A-list actress wasn’t as easy task at all, especially in the hands of Froman.

“I worked with Jen six days a week, three hours a day for three months, as well as doing cross training in the form of Pilates, or toning and weight-training, or gyrotonics.”

And get this – all this training was only for six minutes of actual footage in the film. No wonder she’s the highest-paid actress. TBH we wouldn’t do that to ourselves if we were offered millions.

However, as we all know, learning to become a professional ballerina takes years of hard work and consistency, and that was something Kurt needed to keep at the forefront of his mind.

“What we started off with was her posture – how she walked, how she stood, and I knew that what we needed from her for all the visual effects to work and for all the close up shots to work, was I needed her upper body to look as polished as possible, and I needed it to match with what the dance double was doing.”

“Training was pretty slow in the beginning but once we got going, she understood the ballet and what was accepted of her – like if she needed more power from the shoulders, or her neck had to be very long, or her cheeks needed to be angled in a way to catch the light.”

If you’ve had the chance to watch the film, you’ll notice how poised Lawrence walks and talks throughout the whole movie – good posture our mothers wish we all had.

But Kurt explains perfecting upper body strength can come with implementing a few different exercises into your weekly workouts.

First up, gyrotonics.

“Gyrotonics is really amazing for strengthening the upper body. It’s a form of Pilates based on functional strength through rhythmic movements. It’s similar to ballet because it’s very lengthening and you’re constantly using your breath, and it requires a lot of core work as well.”

And the weights at the gym should definitely not be reserved for the buff gym guys.

“Weight training and doing a lot of cardio is very good. The human body is amazing when it comes to support – we have to fully shock it. It’s about constantly diversifying your workout.”

In fact, when Kurt was a professional dancer, he would “spend two to two-and-a-half hours at the gym doing cardio and a lot of weight training on top of dance class.” Yep, we’d stop complaining about how tired we feel after a 45 minute HIIT class.

While Lawrence obviously had to push her body to extremes it had never experienced before, Kurt stresses how important it is to listen to your body and to know your limits, regardless if you’re training to perform on Broadway or simply trying to reach that New Year’s resolution before next year creeps up on you. And let’s face it; no one’s forcing you to become a ballerina in a matter of months.

“When I was dancing I can tell you I would have a day off every week to let my body rest where I’d get acupuncture or a massage.”

“Some days you would have to really push your body and you’d feel like you’re hitting a wall, so I would cut back on one thing or another, or if I was really sore I would honestly just take the day off. You have to be disciplined but there is a certain intuition that dancers have, and you have to really listen to your body otherwise you might injure yourself.

“You stay in peak shape, but once you reach that fine line of over-training your body, you start to beat your body up and it’s not helpful.”

As for J-Law’s diet that helped her truly portray the lean physique of a ballerina, it took a lot more dedication to stick to a low-calorie meal then she hoped for.

“Red Sparrow was the first time that I was really hungry, and disciplined,” the actress admitted in an interview with Vanity Fair.

“I can’t be a character as an ex-ballerina and not feel like an ex-ballerina.”

Like we said, with Lawrence, you get what you get, and dieting for Red Sparrow was no exception. So much so, the films’ director, Francis Lawrence (no, they’re not related), arranged all the ballet scenes of the film to be shot first so she could get back to her long-term relationship with normal food.

“I discovered this Viennese kielbasa sausage in an uncircumcised French-bread roll, with pickle relish. I had that almost every day in Budapest — which you can see, because I continue to grow in the movie. Dieting is just not in the cards for me.”

Ugh, finally someone who can relate to us on an emotional-food level. And ballerinas and ballerinos, we don’t know how you do it, but we have one word for you: #respect